Over Land and Sea
by Namorita
Summary: THe origins of Callie's family comes to life, as well as the reveal of her mysterious ties to Barek.
1. The Beginning

DISCLAIMER: I do not only an of the Swans Crossing characters. I have said my peace. Deal with it.

**/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\ ****  
**

**And So It Begins**

Captain Elia Walker set in his chair, starring nervously at the clock hanging on Leda's wall.

_She should have been home by now._

He attempted to clear his head, to not to think about the past, and to stay away from the future. But time was running out. He had no more than a month, so naturally things would be stressful until then. But if they could surpass that date, they would be safe for another two years. Then, she would be eighteen…still not old enough, but older at least.

_Please don't let it be now. She's too young. She's not ready._

He was aware that strangers had come to town. He could feel it in his bones that something was not right— a sharp clanging signaled the hatch of the Leda being opened.

Captain Walker sat up straight as his daughter descended down the ladder.

"Where have you been? Do you know what time it is?"

"I've been working on the stage for the concert. Its in three days Dad. We were putting the finishing touches on it."

"Your curfew is at 11:00. You're late."

Callie stared at her father and then turned to look at the old clock. "By five minutes. That's really not late." Callie was shocked to see her dad avoid her eyes. "What's wrong?"

"I've been thinking. We've been here for several months, right? I mean all you wanted to do was to see the town your dad grew up in. Now you have. So I think its about time that we head on our way."

Callie felt her heart drop. "You want to leave?"

"I think it's time." He paused. "It isn't safe here."

She looked at her father in disbelief. "It isn't safe from what? You always go on and on about safety. But you've never told me what it is that is such a terrible danger. Dad, what is it that is so

scary."

He was quiet for a minute. "I'm just trying to protect you."

"I'm not a child. I'm not always going to need to be protected." She replied as she headed through the door that separated her bunk from the main living quarter.

Her father watched her shut the door behind her. "You're my child." He whispered. "And yet there are some things that even I can not protect you from." Barek was under his bike when he heard the door to the Tool-N-Die creak open. "We're not open yet," he shouted out. 

"I didn't come to have work done. I came to talk to you."

Barek paused at the voice, then slowly slid out from under his bike. "Captain Walker. What a surprise. What can I help you with?"

Later that night, when Callie came home, again, her father was waiting for her.

"Don't say a word." She started. "I was home on time."

Her father watched her for a minute. "I've been doing some thinking," he replied. I know you do not want to leave town. So, I've come out with an alternative."

Callie ran to hug her father. "So we don't have to leave?" She asked excitably.

"No." her father answered.

"So what's this alternative?"

Captain Walker beamed at his daughter. "I've hired you a bodyguard. Barek, can you come in here please?"

Ok, so here is the first chapter of this fanfic. I've been planning this out for a while and have actually started on it several times, but something has always happened. Stay tuned for the next installment to find out exactly who is the big bad that is targeting Callie, and why they want her.


	2. Red Sky

DISCLAIMER—Do I really need to tell you that I own nothing?

"This is weird. I mean, even for your dad, this is weird."

Callie looked at Jimmy with a soulful expression in her eyes. "Tell me about it."

"Your dad actually hired you a bodyguard. And it's Barek?"

"I know, I know. I don't understand either. And to make it worse, he's staying with us. He's following my every move."

Jimmy paused for a second. "I can't believe I'm up this early."

The two were sitting on a bench over looking the cliffs. Above them the sky was still black in color, with hints of red slowly tinting the eastern view.

"Sorry. I thought that maybe if I snuck out this morning I could get away from Barek."

Jimmy glanced behind them. "I don't think it worked."

Callie rolled her eyes. "Really, Einstein. I don't think I could have figured that out by myself." Callie couldn't help but to take a peak behind them. Barek sat on the ground no more than 100 feet away watching the couple closely. "He's really giving me the heebie-jeebies."

"So who does your dad think that Barek is going to protect you from? I mean, as far as we know, Barek is a bad guy himself. He might even be involved in the Great Mumba-Jumba."

Callie took a deep breath. She pulled her knees up to her chest and wrapped her arms around her legs. "I don't know, Jimmy. I really don't. I mean, now that I think about it, every few years, right around this time, we've moved. I've never really thought about it too much, because we were always moving. But it was right around this time that we would just leave, sometimes in the middle of the night with no warning. All the other times we would plan it out for weeks ahead of time." She turned to look at Jimmy. It's weird, isn't it?"

"Yeah, defiantly weird." Jimmy looked out over the cliffs. "Wow. Look at the sky. I've never seen one like that before."

Callie smiled at Jimmy. "I've seen all kinds of sunrises." She turned her attention to the one in question, and froze.

Jimmy looked over at Callie. "What is it?"

"There's an old adage that sailors use. 'Red sky at night—sailor's delight. Red sky at morn-Sailor be warned.'"

Else where in the town of Swans Crossing, the citizens were just beginning to wake up.

Sydney Rutledge, for once, was awake before her alarm clock went off. When it finally did, she leisurely stretched her arms out and slowly swung her body off of her queen-sized (how appropriate) poster bed. She slipped her feet into her warmest slippers and headed into her bathroom to get ready for her big day.

Mila Rosnovsky hadn't been able to sleep either. She was so excited to make her singing debut at the concert. She glanced at her clock…it was only 3 hours away!

Sandy Swan groaned as the alarm clock went off next to her ear, practically deafening her. "Too bad it didn't." she muttered. "At least if it did, I wouldn't have to hear Mila sing."

Saja DeCastro woke up with an immediate sense of dread. His heart was beating far to fast, and he knew the spirits were communing with him. Then suddenly their message was spoken to his mind. "The great Mumba-Jumba will be revealed today."

In a small room on the outskirt of town, three bald men were sitting around a table. They looked at each other slowly, and then one checked his watch. "It is almost time."

Back in the park where Jimmy and Callie sat stoically on the bench, two tall men watched them from a safe distance.

"We must take her today."

Ok boys and girls, here is chapter two. I am a total attention junkie so do me a favor and give me some feedback.


	3. The Concert

DISCLAIMER—Guess what I don't own.

By noon all of Swan's Crossing Society (and most of the teenagers) had gathered in the park by the lake. The new concert stage had a large curtain around it, so that no one could see exactly how it looked.

Behind the stage, there was a makeshift tent set up for those involved in the concert. Nancy, Owen and Mila were sitting next to a huge fan, trying to keep cool.

"This is so awesome!" Owen cried out.

"I know, I'm so excited!" Mila joined in.

Sandy looked over at the two. "Yeah." She said. She stood up and walked over to the full-sized mirror set up. She really liked her outfit for the show. She was wearing black tights and a black skirt with a thick-strapped black tank top, and over that a canary-yellow off-the-shoulder top. She had topped the outfit with a black beret. I think I look good, she thought. Then she looked over her shoulder. Mila, of course, was wearing pink.

She plopped back down in the chair. Great. Not only will our voices clash, but our outfits will to.

Sydney was once again going over her speech. This was going to be great. Garrett was about to get exactly what he deserved.

Callie and Jimmy were sitting Indian-style on the ground. They were laughing and whispering back and forth to one another, oblivious to the fact that they were still being watched by strangers.

Across town, the two Bald Men retrieved a bug they had hidden in J.T.'s room. They quickly headed back to their refuge to determine who Professor Vann was, once and for all.

At the docks, Captain Walker was distracted from his thoughts by a strange noise outside his submarine.

"Can I have your attention, please?" The mayor said clearly into the Microphone.

The crowd quieted.

"Thank you. I would like to first thank all of you here today. This is a special day for all of us. We have always known that Swans Crossing is a city with a large amount of talented young people. This stage is for them. We are proud of our youths, and are glad to take this day to honor them. On this note, I would like to introduce you to some of our most talented teenagers. May I please introduce to you: Sandy's Swans!

The huge curtain was pulled off to reveal Sandy, Owen, and Mila beginning the opening cords of "Gotta Grow Up" on Callie and Jimmy's revolving stage…. which happened to be in the center of a giant Swan structure.

Barek looked up at the structure. "Good Lord" he muttered.

A few feet away Jimmy and Callie shared his sentiments.

"That's what they put our stage in?" Callie whispered.

Jimmy just stared. Finally he turned to Callie and asked, "Who did they let design it, the Countess?"

Captain Walker cautiously headed up the ladder. He took a deep breath and opened the hatch. There he encountered the shock of his life-he found himself face to face with his father-in-law.

"Wasn't that wonderful" Mayor Rutledge gushed. "Just a show of some of the talent our young people have. Now don't go anywhere, Sandy's Swans will be back in a few minutes to sing some more for us-this time switching lead singers. But right now, I would like to introduce you to one of the most talented young ladies I know…of course I am a little prejudiced. My daughter-Sydney Rutledge."

Captain Walker stared in shock.

"Are you going to invite me in, Elia?"

"By all means. Do come in Duke."

Duke Dounaghan slowly descended the steps into the belly of Leda. He looked around for a minute, then remarked, "So this is the tribute to my daughter."

"Yes," Captain Walker nervously replied. "But let's cut all formalities. Why are you here?"

The Duke sat down. He took a deep breath and then looked his son-in-law in the face. "I believe the time has arrived. They are here for her."

The two Angelos split up as Sydney began her speech.

"Ladies and Gentlemen of Swans Crossing, I would first like to thank you for attending this ceremony today. This stage has been a pet project of my mother's for a long time. It is wonderful to finally see this idea come to life."

From the corner of her eyes, Sydney noticed two men pushing their way through the crowd towards the middle. How rude, she thought.

"As you all know, the focus of this project is to provide a place for the teenagers of Swans Crossing to express themselves. We all exceed in different areas…some of us in Music, some in Theatre, and some in…."

The men were still pushing their way through the crowd. Sydney couldn't help but pause as she saw one of the men point towards where

Callie and Jimmy were standing. Confused, she continued.

"Some in fields that don't require much talent. Teenagers who do devious things to get their way. Teenagers like…"

One of the men was right behind Callie. Sydney watched in shock as his arm reached out to grab her.

"Callie, look out!"

Callie was surprised as she was listening to Sydney's speech. She had a pretty good feeling as to what Sydney was planning to do. She seems to be loosing her train of thought a lot. That's really not like her. Suddenly Sydney's eyes open wide, and she shouted into the microphone, "Callie, look out!"

It was at that moment that Callie felt a rough hand on her arm, jerking her away from Jimmy.

Barek hadn't really been paying that much attention to what was going on around him. He had been lost in thought about the things Callie's father had said to him. He never did tell Barek exactly who he was supposed to be on his guard about. Maybe he's not sure himself,

Barek thought.

Callie, look out!"

Barek was jolted back to attention just in time to see a tall blonde man reach out and grab Callie by the arm and attempt to pull her out of the crowd. It only took Barek a second to realize who the man was, and he quickly jumped into action.

The crowd was in chaos. Jimmy was trying to get to Callie, who was screaming out for help, but someone was holding him back. Out of the corner of his eye, he noticed Barek shoving his way towards Callie.

Barek reached the area where the man had Callie, and suddenly swung his arm out, connecting his fist with the man's face. Stunned the man dropped his hold on Callie and Barek grabbed her and pulled her away. Running, he took Callie to his bike, ordered her to get on, and they took off at top speed.

Captain Walker sat down in the living room. "I know. I've had the feeling that they were getting close too. But do you think it is now. She's still so young."

The Duke looked at him closely. "She's old enough."

"She's still a child!" the captain roared.

Duke Dounaghan rubbed his eyes. "They don't see her like that."

"She'll be safe," the Captain whispered. "She has Barek to look after her."

His father-in-law sat up very rigidly. "What did you just say?"

"She has a bodyguard," the Captain explained.

"No, what did you say his name was?"

"Barek. His name is Barek."

The Duke turned pale. "You fool," He whispered. "Do you have any idea what you have done? You've just delivered her into their hands."

I want to hear any and all feedback. I'm going to try to have the next few chapters up in at least a month, so let me know any opinions you have about how the story is going. Thanks.


End file.
